1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a self-propelled machine for cutting or milling, and in particular to a machine for working deposits, such as deposits of coal, ore, minerals, etc., by surface mining.
2. Prior Art
There are various kinds of self-propelled machines for cutting or milling which are known. These machines include, in particular, machines for working deposits by surface mining and civil engineering machines for road-building, such for example as road-milling machines, which can be used to remove existing layers of the surfacing structure of roads, and recyclers, which can be used to recondition existing road surfacings.
The machines for working deposits by surface mining, which are also referred to as surface miners, have an arrangement for cutting rock which has a mechanically or hydraulically driven cutting drum. Road-milling machines or recyclers have a milling arrangement which has a milling drum. The cutting or milling drums are fitted with tool holders to receive the cutting or milling tools.
While the cutting or milling arrangement is operating, shaking movements and vibrations occur in the machines for cutting or milling. Particularly when a machine for working deposits by surface mining is operating, the shaking movements and vibrations, which occur particularly when very hard granite or hard limestone is being quarried, are very severe. The person driving the machine is directly exposed to these very severe shaking movements and vibrations.
Known surface miners have an enclosed and sealed-off driver's cab which is soundproofed and which has a rotatable driver's seat. In the known surface miners, the driver's cab is fixed on the chassis, on which the cutting arrangement is also arranged. In the case of road-milling machines and recyclers too, the driver's station is fixed on the chassis.
A surface miner having a driver's cab which is fixed on the chassis is known for example from EP 0 744 495 A2 or DE 40 17 107 A1. In the surface miner known from EP 0 744 495 A2, the driver's cab is arranged at that end of the chassis of the machine which is at the front in the direction of travel, whereas in the surface miner known from DE 40 17 107 A1 the driver's station is situated in the centre of the chassis of the machine.
DE 10 2005 044 211 A1 describes a self-propelled civil engineering machine, and particular a recycler or cold-milling machine, which has a chassis which is carried by running gear which allows the height of the chassis to be adjusted. A driver's station for a person driving the vehicle is arranged on the chassis of the machine above the front wheels of the running gear. The front and rear wheels of the running gear are fixed to the chassis of the machine by means of height-adjusting arrangements, thus enabling the height of the chassis of the machine to be adjusted relative to the ground. If the height of the chassis of the machine is adjusted, there is also a change in the height of the driver's station above the ground.